Transcript

The Sacrament of Baptism conforms us to Christ, wipes away our sin, and sets us on a journey to heaven.

So, baptism is a decisive moment of conversion.

It's a turning away from sin, and it implies a resolve to live out a life of holiness through God's grace.

Yet, even after baptism, the Christian r- life remains a life of continual conversion as we struggle against sin to turn to God.

So, although baptism takes away sin, all Christians are left with the ability to sin, even to sin seriously and separate themselves from God.

Jesus knew that sin would continue to remain a problem, even for those of us who've been baptized, and so this is why He gave us a remedy to treat our weakness and sinfulness.

He entrusted the forgiveness of sins to the church, and so instituted the Sacrament of Confession as one of the great channels of grace available to us.

And we can see this right in the scriptures.

After the resurrection, our Lord gave His apostles the power to forgive sins in His name.

He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.

If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

The Sacrament of Confession exists first and foremost so that those who've committed serious sins at some point after their baptism can be reconciled with God, and restored to the life of grace and holiness.

The Sacrament of Confession is also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation because it reconciles a sinner with God and the church.

Before approaching the Sacrament of Confession, it's important to understand something about sin.

Sin is essentially an offense against God.

It can be a thought, a word, or an action we do, those we call sins of commission.

It can also be something we neglect or fail to do.

That's a sin of omission.

Not all sins are the same level of severity either.

A mortal sin is a serious offense against God, and a grave violation of His law.

It separates us from God's friendship and grace.

Mortal sin takes its name from the word death, and like a mortal wound, mortal sin causes a spiritual death to the soul.

A mortal sin may also be called a grave or serious sin.

A mortal sin is a grave violation.

It's a sin concerning something serious that we call grave matter.

And in order to commit a mortal sin, one really needs to act out not only that grave matter, but also do so with full knowledge and free consent of the will as well.

Charity, the love that God supernaturally puts in our souls by His grace, is killed by mortal sin.

And this is because mortal sin involves a fundamental choice of disobedience to God, the God who loves us so much.

A venial sin is when one fails to observe the moral law through a lesser offense.

If someone commits a gravely serious action, but without full knowledge of what he's doing or without free consent, then the sin is also venial.

It's unfortunate that today many people try to obscure the distinction between mortal and venial sin.

They claim, Sin is just sin, as though all sins are the same.

And some argue that no sin is serious enough to really separate us from friendship with God.

But this is a dangerous way of thinking.

It's a presumptuous way of thinking, because the scriptures say otherwise.

The First Letter of John is clear, there is such a thing as mortal sin.

The Sacrament of Confession takes away the guilt of both types of sin, of mortal and venial sin.

The Sacrament of Confession has four main parts: contrition, confession, absolution, and penance.

And it's worth going through these four parts, because when we know them, we basically know how to go to confession.

The first part of confession is called contrition.

Contrition is the word for the sorrow we have for having committed sin.

It's the primary material we bring to the Sacrament of Confession.

We need to express sorrow when we hurt another human being and ask their forgiveness.

And so in the same way when we seek forgiveness from God, we need to actually be sorry for what we've done.

Now, there's two ways to be sorry, two levels of contrition.

We can be sorry for our sins because we're afraid of punishment, and we call that imperfect contrition.

Or we can be sorry for our sins because we love God and we recognize we've offended Him, and we call that perfect contrition.And as we grow closer to God, our sorrow is purified and we begin to be sorry chiefly because we've displeased God.

Our contrition is perfected.

The second part of the Sacrament of Confession is actually just called confession, and it's usually what we think of when we have confession in mind.

It's the actual verbal articulation of our sins.

And for the confession to be valid, for it to really work and be effective, a person must confess all of the mortal sins he or she is aware of having committed, and this is because confession is about restoring one's relationship with God.

So, it has a all or nothing character to it.

To deliberately withhold and keep secret a mortal sin and leave it unconfessed does not result in forgiveness.

In fact, to go to confession and withhold a serious sin results in another serious sin because we're sort of misusing and just playing with the sacrament.

The third part of the Sacrament of Confession is called absolution, and this is the action of the priest in forgiving sins using a special sacramental formula we call the formula of absolution.

And the formula of absolution is particularly beautiful, one of the church's most beautiful prayers, because it acknowledges that God is a merciful father who forgives us through Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, so the whole trinity is mentioned in the words that the priest uses to absolve sins.

And through these words, the priest acts as an instrument of Christ's mercy and forgives.

Lastly, the fourth part of the Sacrament of Confession is called penance, the satisfactory penance.

We typically just call it penance.

And this is the task of reparation that the priest assigns to the person confessing to help them make up for the spiritual damage caused by sin.

And while it's principally Christ, Christ and His merits and merciful power that forgive our sins, the penance we're assigned is also a way that we can in some small way share with Jesus in making up for the disorder caused by our sins.

A penance is usually a set of prayers or charitable actions that we do.

Our sins are truly forgiven by the absolution of the priest in the formula of absolution, but we're obliged after our confession to actually complete our penance.

Now, to some, going to confession might seem daunting or even intimidating, but I want you to know that confession is a tremendous gift of mercy.

It's not something to be dreaded.

In a way, it's something to look forward to.

Through confession, God will help you to be free of the burden of sin.

In fact, God Himself will give you the strength to make a good confession.

And with God's help, you acknowledge your sins directly and make an act of repentance for them.

And so, God gives the wonderful gift of true and complete forgiveness.

Before going to confession, it's important to make an examination of conscience, and this is basically just taking time to prayerfully reflect and remember what sins you may have committed.

Many guides are available to help this process.

Doing an examination of conscience helps you articulate and express your sins honestly and thoroughly.

A good examination of conscience allows God to begin His healing work in your souls and to prepare you for the grace of the sacrament.

Someone may be concerned that they don't remember absolutely all of their sins, and that's okay.

God only asks us to express our sins as best we can remember them.

Going to confession is different than going to counseling or spiritual direction.

It's focused directly on confession and absolution of sins.

And so, therefore, it typically only takes 10 minutes or so, even less most of the time.

The priest may offer you a few brief words of advice or encouragement.

You should feel free to bring up questions you may have relating to your sins or practicing the Catholic faith.

If you're not sure what to do exactly, ask the priest.

He'll be able to help guide you through the sacrament.

Now, when exactly you make your first confession will depend on whether you're preparing for baptism or preparing to be received into full communion with the church.

If you're preparing for baptism, you'll make your first confession sometime after being initiated into the church.

But if you're a candidate whose prior baptism has been recognized by the church, go ahead and speak with your pastor about when would be an appropriate time to go to confession before you're received into the church.

Now, when one goes to confession, it's necessary to confess all of the mortal sins one has committed, how many times one has committed them, and any relevant circumstances.

It's not necessary to go into great detail, but one must at least name the type of sin.

For example, I missed Sunday Mass one time without a serious reason.

Or I stole $1,000 from my employer by overstating my travel expense.

After committing a mortal sin, it's important to fly to the Sacrament of Confession as soon as reasonably possible to restore one's friendship with God and receive His healing grace.

At the very minimum, all Catholics are obliged to go to confession once a year if they're aware of any mortal sins they've committed.

Even though confession exists principally for the forgiveness of serious sins, the history of Catholic practice shows that it's very important also to confess one's venial sins, and to do so frequently.

Experience shows that going to confession every month or two is one of the keys to a healthy spiritual life.

Frequent confession keeps one close to the Lord and prevents habits of sin from growing.

Confession is essentially about the transformation of our hearts.

God uses the power of the sacrament not only to forgive and take away our sins, but also to transform our fear into hope, and our sorrow into love.

He draws us closer to Himself.

Many people will comment on how confession brings them great emotional relief.

They feel as if a burden has been lifted from their shoulders.

This is a wonderful thing to experience.

But whether we feel it or not, faith gives us the certainty that confession forgives our sins and infuses us with God's grace.

Confession is an indispensable component of the Christian life.

It's an incredibly powerful aid to our continual conversion and increase in holiness.

Now that we've discussed a few of the sacraments that all Catholics receive, we'll talk next about something that, though it's not for everyone, is still of vital importance since it stands at the foundation of the Christian family.

Next time, we'll talk about the Sacrament of Marriage.